QT: Against My Will (Volume 2)

4.32 - Her Third Lifetime - Dangerous Angels

° Start of flashback...

° Atop rocky mountain outcrops, in a remote place, time seemed to stand still. With its perched pictorial temples and giant shrines, the age-old Buddhist lifestyle appeared to be almost untouched by modernity.

° In this centuries-old monastery, one could hear energetic clamors of young women with matching shaved heads; dressed in brown sweatpants and trainers.

° One of them was Bing Shi. Waking up at 3:00 AM she started the morning routine with other nuns. After that nightmarish accident, she was unable to continue her studies, getting anywhere near a man was more than difficult.

° The nuns were spread out before a majestic temple-like structure, they ran, leaped, kicked, and punched on a head nuns' orders. Under a facade, they were the men and women of an age-old Buddhist sect.

° Established by a mysterious person, this had been going on for thousands of years. Their current spiritual leader was a man who, as a child, believed that Buddhist teachings about women and slavery were misguided, polluted, and irretrievably flawed as his teachings passed by many edits, and their role was to bring his true teachings to the surface.

° The nuns used their martial arts skills to question gender roles in this conservative community. Before they were sent out to spread awareness, everything had to be done in secret.

° Different from slavery, women weren't a threat; their freedom would bring no profit. Their action would be seen as "blasphemous". They were attempting to break the rules, the stereotypes. It was a break of tradition, and they knew people wouldn't receive it well.

° Fighting for their rights, many were clubbed, beat, and tortured. Most of that happened hidden from the public eyes; women died in the "safety" of their houses. Harassment, assaults, and even death couldn't be avoided.

° Unlike other nuns, jabs and kicks accompanied their chants and prayers. Bing Shi would have never thought that one day, she'd break bricks with her head, or let her body be hit with a thick cane. As she carried a heavy sack of sand across the mountains, her self-esteem and confidence improved.

° When an earthquake hit nearby regions, a bunch of nuns from her nunnery decided to help those in need. After rescuing and healing the injured, they picked up their tools and started to build homes and broken compound walls.

° Helping others became her new religion.

° '~Just because I was born a girl, I was deemed as inferior my whole life; even my mother thought so.'

° 'Is our role in society only to poop babies, cook food, and do what men order us to do? What about our visions, goals, and desires?'

° 'It's not that I despise the idea of being a stay-at-home mom. I could have embraced it, actually, if only it didn't mean sacrificing every other aspect of myself.'

° 'If I could pursue my love for science, for knowledge, alongside caring for my family, I would. I would have been content, finding joy in each of them. But in the sixties, universities were still exclusive for males only.'

° '~ Men gave everything to the world; they made the world safe enough for us to leave the house. We should be grateful. With such a mentality, we stopped dreaming; we stopped evolving. We went with the flow, myself included.'

° 'We truly believed that men were superior in all aspects. The proof was all around us. We are a distraction; we lower their efficiency, we are a burden...'

° '~ We are psychically weaker, we couldn't carry heavy loads, couldn't build houses, couldn't join the army. What would happen if women were stronger? Men would be the ones being oppressed. That's the deal with being strong.'

° '~ If it weren't for the feminist activities, during which many men and women fought for women's higher education, I'd accept the marriage proposal and become something I had never wished to be. Those great people gave me the gift of choice, the chance to return to my studies. They opened the first university for females in a distant northern region.'

° '~ But everything comes with a cost. Because I refused the marriage proposal in order to move to the north, I was shunned by my own family.'

° 'I needed some cash and navigating a world that wasn't always kind to lone women, I took up a low-paying part-time job. I even entertained the idea of learning self-defense. But mastering the skills to disarm a mugger or fend off multiple attackers? That required years of experience I didn't have.'

° '~So, I armed myself with posture and language, my verbal shields as steadfast as any physical defense. It made me feel autonomous, invincible even. My dedication to science didn't go unnoticed; I earned a scholarship and for the first time, I realized my own value.'

° '~ I was well aware that the world outside wasn't safe, so to avoid walking home alone, I found a classmate who lived in the same compound as me. I would've never thought that the same classmate would be my doom.'

° End of flashback...

"What damsel in distress saves herself all the time? I tell you. I was the coolest damsel in distress, ever." Bing Shi studied the surroundings of the inn before her eyes darted toward her healthy hands; her nails were clean of dried blood and flesh.

The more she stared at them, the more they started to shake. It was like an onslaught of frigid wind, whisking all the heat away, leaving her icy cold, even though the blood in her veins still ran warm.

"Welcome home," Xuan Mu greeted her with a tight hug that could melt even the largest iceberg. Intertwining his legs and arms around her body, he quietly offered his warmth. His Bing Shi was back. Honestly, he didn't know what he would do if something happened to her, "A nightmare?"

╔════Author's note═════╗

Now, we also get to know about Bing Shi's third lifetime's thoughts and opinions.

In her first and second lifetime, she was still asexual, but she didn't mind touching.

In her third lifetime, she minded touching very much, and I guess there is no need to explain why.

Have you ever thought about what little monster had been doing after she left the palace? In the past, she died due to old age, which is somewhere between the late thirties or forties. :)

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